Dear e-mentor Readers,

On the first of September this year the first graders will receive Nasz elementarz - the free and open coursebook. Its first part has been publicized by the Polish Ministry of National Education just recently (it is available for download at: e-mentor.pl/d322) .

The media hype about the revolutionary changes on the publishing market has two dimensions: qualitative and financial, both equally important. With respect to the quality issues the concept of „the only one suitable for all” coursebook is highly controversial. The financial aspect refers mainly to the privileged position of the Ministry that the publishers cannot compete with. There is also a strong concern among the booksellers, for whom selling the textbooks in August and September constitutes main part of their yearly income. It is worth to be mentioned that the value of coursebooks market in Poland reaches almost a billion PLN.

On the other hand, in all this hype it has not been widely noticed that the new coursebook Nasz elementarz is going to be published under the Creative Commons Attribution license. This is a great advantage and the distinctive feature, equally significant as its free availability. The abovementioned license provides broad possibilities - not only of sharing the material (copying, distributing) but also of changing and extending it. The derived work can be published, even commercially. The basic requirement is the precise indication of the authorship and introduced changes (more information about the rules of using works under this license can be found at: e-mentor.pl/de20)

This is the reality that has never happen before - the first grade pupils will get a free coursebook, which can be improved and adjusted according to their needs even by the teachers themselves. Moreover, it will not be associated with any particular software or technology solution, which will make it more accessible. This is a trend that creates the education of the future!

Chief editor
Marcin Dąbrowski